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Stainless Tubus racks?

Old 08-07-22, 05:01 AM
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smasha
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Stainless Tubus racks?

Got a new touring bike, and it's coming together. It'll be used mostly for commuting and grocery shopping stuff. Maybe someday I'll do some overnights, and get into proper bike touring.

I'm seriously considering a stainless Tubus Logo in the rear, and a stainless Tubus Tara on the front.

On my last bike, the aluminum/aluminium Topeak Super-Tourist rear racks would snap about every 5 years, so I'm thinking of stepping up to steel… And I live and ride close enough to the sea that I'm leaning towards stainless.

I tested out how an Ortlieb Front-Roller fits on a friend's Tara rack, and my concern is that the hook at the bottom of the bag is too far back, which could let the front/bottom of the bags "flare out", away from the rack. Ideally, there'd be a place for the hook to slide forward, and still hold the bag to the rack.

I haven't tested how the Back-Roller bags mate with the Logo rack, but looking at pictures I have similar concerns.

Anyway, I'm just looking for thoughts, opinions, and other options to consider, before I spend the $$$ on new racks.
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Old 08-07-22, 03:21 PM
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I have experience with Tubus Logo, Vega, and Tara racks -- none stainless -- used with Ortlieb and Arkel panniers. I love the Vega for its elegant simplicity, like the Logo for the ability to move the load back on a bike with short chainstays, and do not like the Tara as well but still bought a second one for another bike. The exceptionally thick tubing of the Tara doesn't fit the hooks of my Front Roller Plus panniers very well but works alright with my Back Packer Classics. I think there is a larger hook available but I have not purchased a set yet. I often prefer to run my Arkel T42 panniers on the Tara BUT occasionally get excited and drag one on the ground when cornering. I have thankfully not snagged one on anything and caused a crash this way.

I feel like I can vouch for the durability of all these racks having hauled a years-worth of groceries on them 50-60lbs at a time. I also commuted for several years with the Logo/Vega on a route that included a few miles of unmaintained ranch roads. Nothing has broken on any of them.
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Old 08-07-22, 03:26 PM
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PS. You can hook the front, rear, or both ends of a pannier on a Logo/Vega if you're willing to move the hooks or add a second set. I started running a double-set of hooks on my Front Roller Plus paniers due to several instances of unhooking on my ranch-road commute but I'd say that just about qualifies as abuse.
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Old 08-07-22, 05:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Bug Shield
The exceptionally thick tubing of the Tara doesn't fit the hooks of my Front Roller Plus panniers very well but works alright with my Back Packer Classics. I think there is a larger hook available but I have not purchased a set yet.
I don't have one to measure, but the Tara specs are 10mm ⌀ on the top, and 14mm ⌀ for the "hoop", which is the attachment point for the bottom hoook. All of the Ortliebs I have (ranging from about 15 years old to a few months old) have inserts for the top pair of hooks to shrink them down to 10mm, and the bottom hooks are adjustable by rotating the spacer; according to the manual in front of me, the small setting is 10mm, and the larger setting is 13mm. Should be alright with a 14mm rail.
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Old 08-07-22, 06:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Bug Shield
PS. You can hook the front, rear, or both ends of a pannier on a Logo/Vega if you're willing to move the hooks or add a second set. I started running a double-set of hooks on my Front Roller Plus paniers due to several instances of unhooking on my ranch-road commute but I'd say that just about qualifies as abuse.
Are you talking about top or bottom hooks?

Are you talking about adding extra bottom hooks? Where/how do you have the bottom hooks attached?

The only time I had a (top) hook failure with an Ortlieb was with new bags that weren't broken in. I was used to older, more worn-out hooks that that "grabbed" the railing as soon as they were in place and I let go of the handle/strap. The new ones weren't broken in, and I needed to press down on the top of the "grabber hooks" to make them grab the railing. I didn't fully realise this until after one of my new bags tried to escape.

My bottom hooks fail regularly on decent bumps, because the size/shape of the Super-Tourist racks doesn't have a secure enough position for that bottom hook, and then the bags will swing out, attached only at the top, until I stop and re-seat them.

Below is a diagram showing the "nub" that's *not* on the stainless version of the Logo rack (red circle) and where I think I'd want to get the top hooks (green circles) inside the vertical stays. Is that a setup that would work well with the Back-Roller QL2.1? My concern is that the rear vertical stay would put a torsional force on the rear hook, and may bend/break it over time. I'd *really* like to have that nub, and also get the top hooks as far apart as the bag allows, making it more stable. Maybe I can screw a plastic clamp of some kind there, to serve the purpose of the nub?


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Old 08-07-22, 06:44 PM
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Originally Posted by smasha
I don't have one to measure, but the Tara specs are 10mm ⌀ on the top, and 14mm ⌀ for the "hoop", which is the attachment point for the bottom hoook. All of the Ortliebs I have (ranging from about 15 years old to a few months old) have inserts for the top pair of hooks to shrink them down to 10mm, and the bottom hooks are adjustable by rotating the spacer; according to the manual in front of me, the small setting is 10mm, and the larger setting is 13mm. Should be alright with a 14mm rail.
Sorry I wasn't clear. It's the bottom hook that won't slip over the 14mm tube at the bottom. My Front Roller Plus and Arkel panners are both torsionally stiff so they don't really fly out at the front. The Back Packer Classics do fly out a bit in front but it doesn't really bother me.
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Old 08-07-22, 07:09 PM
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Originally Posted by smasha
Are you talking about top or bottom hooks?

Are you talking about adding extra bottom hooks? Where/how do you have the bottom hooks attached?

The only time I had a (top) hook failure with an Ortlieb was with new bags that weren't broken in. I was used to older, more worn-out hooks that that "grabbed" the railing as soon as they were in place and I let go of the handle/strap. The new ones weren't broken in, and I needed to press down on the top of the "grabber hooks" to make them grab the railing. I didn't fully realise this until after one of my new bags tried to escape.

My bottom hooks fail regularly on decent bumps, because the size/shape of the Super-Tourist racks doesn't have a secure enough position for that bottom hook, and then the bags will swing out, attached only at the top, until I stop and re-seat them.

Below is a diagram showing the "nub" that's *not* on the stainless version of the Logo rack (red circle) and where I think I'd want to get the top hooks (green circles) inside the vertical stays. Is that a setup that would work well with the Back-Roller QL2.1? My concern is that the rear vertical stay would put a torsional force on the rear hook, and may bend/break it over time. I'd *really* like to have that nub, and also get the top hooks as far apart as the bag allows, making it more stable. Maybe I can screw a plastic clamp of some kind there, to serve the purpose of the nub?





I didn't realize that the stainless Logo didn't have that nub you circled in red. As you noted, it is a key part of the flexibility of the Logo.

Here's a picture of my double hook setup on my QL2.0 Front Roller Plus panniers. Ortlieb now does the same on their Gravel Panniers.



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Old 08-08-22, 12:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Bug Shield
Here's a picture of my double hook setup on my QL2.0 Front Roller Plus panniers. Ortlieb now does the same on their Gravel Panniers.
That looks like a good fix, and could even make the Super-Tourist rack more tolerable… But not applicable to the Tara, where there's just no place for a 2nd hook, where I'd really want a single hook.
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